Stolen Pearls
by Shimanishiki
Summary: Sequal to "Diamond Born." Lavi is kidnapped by a crazed madman, and Kanda must save him before it's too late. Cowritten with Sailorstar165
1. Birth

"Mommy! It's moving!"

"That's a good thing," Lavi replied to his daughter, gently taking the eggs from her and her brothers. "It means they're going to hatch soon."

"How soon?" the twins asked in unison. They were just as excited as Kanda and Lavi about the new pups. "Tomorrow? Next week?"

Lavi touched the shell and felt a stubborn thump against the side. "I think today, actually," he said. He smiled at Kanda, who was watching just as intently as the children. Now that they expected the eggs to hatch early, there was no panic or worry for their litter. "Someone better go tell Miranda to bring some fish," he hinted at his husband.

Kanda frowned, but surfaced to tell their maid to bring some fish. The dark-haired woman nodded, then left. That done, Kanda went back to his family to wait for the eggs.

"So, place your bets!" Lavi said brightly. "Boys or girls?"

"Girls!" Yuuki said.

"Boys!" said Darius and Darien in unison.

"Two girls and a boy," Kanda decided.

Lavi didn't get a chance to say what he thought would come from the eggs. Two started shaking and cracking, and silence fell upon the stunned onlookers. One smashed open violently, revealing a female merpup. The second cracked and cracked until one side burst open and another girl fell out.

All eyes fell on the last egg, which wasn't moving. Confused, Lavi laid a hand on it. He felt a weak bumping, but nothing with enough force to crack the shell. He sighed and turned to deliver the verdict to the expectant family. "It won't hatch."

"Won't hatch?" Kanda repeated. "What are you talking about?"

"It happens sometimes," Lavi said quietly. "The pup isn't strong enough to break the shell, and so it won't survive."

"Then we'll break the egg open!" the twins volunteered.

Lavi snatched the egg before the two could pick it up. "That won't work, you two. If it isn't strong enough to get out of the shell on its own, it wouldn't be able to survive for long outside the shell." He cradled the egg against him a moment tenderly before saying, "We'll have to get rid of it."

"Maybe it's just late," Kanda said. "Maybe it will hatch tomorrow instead."

But the redheaded merman shook his head. "No. A litter hatches all at once. The fact this one didn't hatch now means it won't ever hatch."

"Give it another day," Kanda said desperately. "It will hatch. I'm sure of it."

Lavi set the egg down gently, careful about the dying child inside. "It won't hatch, Yuu. Sometimes you just have to accept these things and move on."

"It can hear us through the shell, right?" Kanda snapped.

Confused, Lavi nodded.

"Then maybe if we cheered it on, it could hatch!"

The kids all looked at each other and did just as their father suggested. Only Lavi stayed quiet, watching their endeavor fail.

The two new pups swam over to Lavi, as if sensing his sadness, and tried to cheer up their mother with a reassuring chomp on the fingers. Lavi smiled down at the two girls. "I'm fine," he whispered to them. "I'll be fine." He gave them a gentle hug as the tears started coming. "I'll be fine. I promise"

A hand lifted Lavi's chin, and Kanda kissed him tenderly on the cheek. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm just making things harder for you, aren't I?"

Lavi shook his head. "We'll wait another day and see if anything changes." He tried to smile weakly, but gave up with a sigh. He released their two new children and watched them latch onto the twins. "Who knows? Maybe something will change."

* * *

Nothing changed. The pup in the egg still bumped the shell when Lavi touched it, but it still wasn't enough to break free. The bumping was getting weaker and weaker as the hours ticked by, and Lavi knew there wasn't much time left for their child. He hugged the egg close to him, tears in his eyes, and said, "I love you. Goodbye," before climbing out of the pool. Kanda touched the shell, said the same, and then rushed after Lavi, leaving the egg with its two siblings.

It wasn't alone with the merpups for long, however. The twins jumped into the pool and inspected the unprotected egg.

"I don't care what Mom says," Darius muttered, tapping the shell with his knuckle. "I say we break it open and help our baby brother out."

Darien nodded. They'd decided the night before that if the egg hadn't hatched, they were going to get their sibling out of the shell one way or another.

Darius lifted the egg slowly and tapped it against the ground a few times, careful not to shake the egg and its contents too much. When it didn't crack immediately, Darien took it and tapped a little harder.

"What are you two doing?"

Darien dropped the egg at the sound of their sister's voice, and it cracked against the stone bottom of the pool. Horrified, the twins went to pick it up to check if it was all right. Before they touched it, however, the egg twitched and bits of the shell were breaking away from the crack. The two grinned triumphantly at each other, then said to their sister, "Helping our brother out."

Yuuki's eyes widened. "Mommy told you not to! Mommy said she wouldn't be strong enough!"

"She?" Darius repeated. "There's definitely a boy in there!"

"No way, it has to be a girl!" Yuuki snapped back.

"Quiet!" Darien hissed, leaning in closer to see what was trying to escape the shell. "We'll know in a minute, so stop fighting!"

The two quieted down and leaned in to watch their sibling continue to try and widen the cracked hole the twins had created.

The three spun around when they heard a splash and all three grinned at their parents. "It's hatching! It's hatching!" they all cried excitedly.

Both adults looked at each other, and Lavi came closer to see if what they said was the truth. "It really is..." he whispered, amazed.

The hole at last became big enough, and a tiny merpup squeezed through. He was much smaller than his sisters, who were small to begin with. His scales were covered in something thick and filmy, and underneath the breaks in the film was blood from where the shell had scraped off his too soft scales.

Lavi picked the baby up and laid him in his lap. Carefully, he cleaned the film off and touched the cuts. They were closing slower than they should and the salt water of the pool was getting into the wounds, but the baby didn't cry.

Gingerly, Lavi offered the baby a finger to chew on as the others had when they hatched. At first, the pup seemed puzzled by the action. Then he did as his siblings had done and bit Lavi's finger, but it wasn't nearly as hard a bite as the others.

"Yuu, get him a fish," Lavi said quietly, as if speaking too loudly would break the tiny creature in his arms.

Kanda nodded, but Yuuki had already caught one of the live ones still swimming around.

Lavi first held the fish within reach of the baby. The little child couldn't bit hard enough to kill it, though, and the fish almost got away. Lavi killed the fish and tried to give it to the infant again. He couldn't tear any of the meat off, however, so Lavi ripped bite-sized pieces off the bone for him. This time, the pup was able to swallow some of the pieces.

The baby ate very little and fell asleep in Lavi's arms as soon as he was finished. Unlike the others, he didn't try to swim around to catch a gift for his parents to show just how strong or fast he was.

"What did you do?" Lavi asked the twins.

"They dropped the egg," Yuuki answered for them.

"Tattletale!"The twin started to chase after their sister. The chase ended with Yuuki hiding behind their father and sticking her tongue out at them.

Lavi looked from one guilty face to the other and said knowingly, "Thank you for helping him, even though I told you not to. Just realize that it'll be harder for us all to cope if he doesn't make it, all right?"He said this with small pearly tears of happiness and sadness rolling down his cheeks.

The two nodded solemnly, but mentally they were grinning up a storm. So they'd been right! Ha!

Kanda, as if reading their minds, said, "As punishment for disobeying your mother, you have to get all the fish carcass out of the pool."

The twins groaned. "Do we have to?" one asked while the other said, "That'll take forever!"

Their punishment given, Kanda asked Lavi, "So what should we name him?"

Lavi had to ponder that one. They had named their daughters Mitsuki and Haruhi, names he and Kanda had thought of beforehand, but none of the boy's names they'd thought up really fit the sickly child in his arms. That meant he had to think up one on the spot, something Lavi wasn't very good at, to be honest.

The twins were the ones to save the day. "How 'bout Alexander?" Darius suggested.

"Then we can call him Alex," added Darien, watching his little brother closely.

"And Alex'd be a good name for him," they finished in unison.

Lavi glanced at Kanda, who nodded in agreement. "Welcome to the family, Alexander," Lavi said, the smile on his face genuine for the first time since the egg hadn't hatched.

* * *

_Poor, poor baby. I just want to cuddle with Alie._

**For those who can't figure it out, she's referring to Alexander. As I'm sure you're confused by her nickname, read the omake, as it should answer the question for you. And sorry for the time it took for this three-qual. It's hard, working on fanfics together when Shim's halfway across the country, even with email.

* * *

**

**Omake I: The Fight over Clothes**

Alex watched his sisters playing on a blanket from his window. Today he was feeling better than most days and wanted to join their little tea party, but he doubted his father would allow it. Ever since he was born three years before, he'd been sick just about every other day or too tired to do much other than get out of bed for meals. There were the occasional days he felt well enough to play in the courtyard, but by the time he'd get out there, he was already exhausted and would end up sitting under a tree with his mother and just watch his siblings play tag.

Today, though, he wanted to go out and join them, so he got out of his chair and went to join them. Once he was down the single flight of stairs between his room and the main floor, however, he was tired and needed a break, so he sat on the bottom step and leaned his head against the cool stone wall.

"Alex, what are you doing down there?"

The boy looked up at his mother and tried to smile. "I wanted to play with Yuuki and the others."

Lavi scooped him up from the stair. "Well, you can't go out in your pajamas. Let's get you dressed, and then you can go to their tea party, okay?"

Alex nodded and clung to Lavi as he carried him up the stairs. "Mommy?"

"Yes?"

Alex swallowed nervously, then asked, "Can I wear a dress?"

His mother stopped walking and looked at the little child in his arms. "Why would you want to wear a dress?" he asked, but he didn't sound shocked by the question.

"I-I just want to," was all Alex could say in response.

Lavi smiled down at the Shimmer he was holding. "Then I don't see why not." He started walking again to Alex's room and when they got there, set Alex down on the bed. "I'll be right back."

Alex waited patiently for his mother to return. His eyes lit up when he saw Lavi wasn't kidding about the dress, for Lavi had returned a pale blue dress his sisters detested but that he had always wanted to wear.

Lavi helped his son change into the dress and tied the bow in the back and buttoned the back of the neck so the lace hung flat. He then pulled a matching ribbon from his pocket and tied it in Alex's short hair. "There now," he said, smiling, "don't you look pretty?"

Lavi picked Alex up so he could look at his reflection better in the mirror. The boy's eyes widened as he saw himself, and he didn't feel strange for once. He'd always felt weird when he saw himself in boys' clothes, but he was perfectly comfortable in the dress. He looked at his mother and asked, "Can I keep wearing dresses?"

"We'll have to get you some of your own, but if you want to, then yes."

The boy hugged his mother and asked while he was on a roll, "Can you call me Alie instead of Alex, too?"

Lavi wasn't surprised in the least by that request either. "I'll ask your siblings to as well, if you want."

Alie grinned and hugged his mother even tighter. "Thank you, Mommy!"

Lavi laughed and set his son down. "Go and play with your..." he broke off when he saw Kanda in the doorway, staring at Alie. "Hi, Yuu. Something wrong?"

"What is he wearing?" Kanda asked, shocked enough for both of them.

"A dress," Lavi replied simply. "He wanted to wear one, so I let him."

"_Why_?"

"Because Alie wanted to," Lavi said, making sure to say _Alie_ instead of _Alex._

"Alie?" Kanda repeated, flabbergasted. "Don't go calling him girly things like that!" He came closer and knelt down next to his son. "Alex, boys don't wear dresses. Let's get you changed out of that and into something normal."

His father undid the ribbon in Alie's hair, and the boy pulled away and hid behind his mother. He shook his head when his father said, "Boys shouldn't wear dresses."

Lavi raised an eyebrow at his husband. He snatched the ribbon away and tied it back in Alie's hair. "You go out and play," he said gently to their son. Once the child was gone, he rounded on his husband. "Yuu, how could you say that to him?"

Kanda blinked, confused. "Say what?"

The redhead put his hands on his hips and replied, "You inferred that what he was wearing wasn't normal."

"Well, it's not..." Kanda pointed out meekly. He could tell Lavi was getting angry with him. "Boys don't wear dresses..."

Lavi rolled his eyes. "Obviously you don't realize some Shimmers have girlish tendencies," he snapped. "Just look at me! When I was his age, I refused to wear anything but girl sparkles, and if you looked in my sparkle box back home, all you'd _find_ is female sparkles!"

Kanda flinched. He wasn't used to Lavi being mad. "Sorry, I didn't realize—"

But Lavi wasn't finished fuming yet. "Some Shimmers are actually female on the inside. Ever think that could have been the case with Alie?"

"I didn't know!" Kanda said, at last finding an opening in Lavi's rant to interrupt. "If it's that big a deal, I'll let Alex dress like a girl, all right?"

"Alie," Lavi corrected.

"I refuse to call him Alie. Alex can be a girl's name too."

Lavi pursed his lips. "Fine. But you'll apologize to your son, got it?"

"Yes, of course." Kanda sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could already feel a headache coming on, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet. "I'm sorry for not realizing that. I keep forgetting merpeople are a bit more open about all this and that our kids take after you in that respect."

Lavi rolled his eyes again and kissed Kanda lightly. "I forgive you. Just go apologize to Alie."

Kanda nodded and left to go do just that.


	2. People These Days

It was a mild day—not too hot and not too cold—perfect for the whole family to get out, Alie included. They decided to go to the park, a place they were rarely able to take Alie because of his almost constant illness. Lately, though, things were seemingly better for the little Shimmer.

Many of the peasants greeted their king and "queen" with some surprise, but not because it was rare that royalty left the castle. In their small country, monarchs often mingled with the common folk. The only reason it was any different for their current rulers was because of their six rambunctious children—well, five rambunctious children and little shy Allie. Still, they were glad to see the rather strange royal family and made sure that their king and queen knew it.

"If I have one more person say I look well, I swear I'll murder them," Kanda grumbled to his wife as another family of commoners ambled off in better spirits because they'd met their monarchs.

"Well, you can't blame them for being excited," Lavi replied, smiling at yet another well-wishing passerby. "The weather's been horrible lately, so we haven't been out and about as much. Besides," he added, watching Allie making flower chain crowns with his sisters, "it's gotten out that Allie's been ill. We've had just as many people wishing her well as we have ourselves."

Kanda grumbled some more, but only Lavi knew what it was about this time. He still didn't want to acknowledge that Allie was mentally female despite the fact that even the castle servants actually thought he was a she. Whenever they weren't in public, he refused to refer to Allie as a girl, and the only reason he did in public was because the public at large—except for Allie's physician—thought him a girl too. It wasn't like he was ashamed of his son; it was just awkward knowing one thing while everyone else thought they knew another.

"Oh, go play with them," Lavi said at last, nudging Kanda with his elbow. "You know you want to."

"And what about you?"

Lavi smiled vaguely. "I'm a little tired is all. I think I'll stay here and put up with all the well-wishers that you can't stand."

Kanda smiled and gave Lavi a gentle, chaste kiss before going over to the older litter who were playing tag and joining in. The younger litter jumped up and joined in the game, little Allie included. Lavi smiled at them all, happy to see Allie willingly running after his siblings. He was also happy to see them involving the little Shimmer rather than tagging him and not giving him a chance to possibly catch up to his older siblings or not tagging him at all. Sure they babied him a little, tagging him and then making it easy for him to catch up, but that was better than what Lavi would expect of most kids their age. It just went to show how tightly knit siblings could be in the underwater world.

The fun didn't last long for Allie, though. Soon the child was too tired to continue running and sat with his mother in the shade of a tree, and moments later, the boy was sleeping his head in his mother's lap.

Lavi wished he could take a nap as well, but for the past week, he hadn't been able to sleep. It wasn't because of Kanda. In fact, Kanda was the only reason he _could_ sleep. Kanda was the only one who could dispel the bad feeling that always rose to the surface whenever he was alone. He'd tried to explain this bad feeling to his husband, but Kanda could only swear he'd protect Lavi from anything, which hardly lifted the feeling whenever he wasn't around. Worst of all, their psychic daughter, Haruhi, didn't have these feelings of unease at all. She had inherited her grandmother's clairvoyance and could accurately predict the weather and even where the twins hid their pranks, but for some reason she foresaw no reason for Lavi to be so frightened.

All that and more made Lavi constantly worried whenever Kanda wasn't there holding his hand. And soon he found the cause.

A gun barrel pressed between his shoulder blades. "Don't move."

Lavi froze.

Another barrel joined the first. "Don't say anything, hee."

So there were two assassins. "Are you going to kill me?"

"No. We have to bring you back alive," said the first gunman.

Lavi tried to turn his head, but the gun barrels pressed harder into his back.

"No moving, we said, hee!" the second gunman hissed.

"Now tell the king that you're going back to the castle for a nap," the first gunman commanded. "Do it now."

Lavi slowly moved and repeated to his husband, "I'm heading back to the castle for a nap."

Kanda stopped chasing Darius and looked over. Lavi hoped to Poseidon that he could see the gunmen hiding in the bushes next to the tree, but Kanda just said, "Sure. Is Allie staying here with us, then?"

"We're taking her with us," the first gunman said, shoving the barrel of the gun harder into Lavi's back.

"She's coming with me," Lavi said, hoping that Kanda would hear the stiffness in his words, would know that he didn't really want to leave.

Kanda frowned and started coming closer. Lavi winced when the guns were pressed into him even more. "Are you sure? We could all just go back now, if you both are tired."

"You don't want to ruin his fun."

"Oh no, it's okay. I don't want to ruin your fun. We'll just go back together."

Kanda hesitated. "If your sure," he said uncertainly. "I'll see you a little later than."

Lavi wanted to cry, but the sharp jab in the back reminded him of his captors. He had to settle with a quick flit of the eyes, which was too little too late. Kanda had already turned back to their children who were tugging impatiently at him to continue their game.

"Now stand up," the first gunman said roughly.

"Carry the girl if you can. If not, wake her up, but make sure she doesn't know what's going on, hee."

_This isn't happening,_ Lavi thought, scooping up his son. _Kanda's going to turn around any minute and see those two trying to abduct me._

But it didn't happen. Kanda didn't turn. He didn't see them. He didn't try to save them. Lavi didn't blame him. He'd been on edge for days, and Kanda probably chalked up his odd behavior to nerves.

"Walk."

Lavi didn't need another prod in the back, though they gave him another sharp reminder anyway. Whoever they were, they must not have stood out, for while people glanced over and waved to their queen, they didn't seem to notice the two who must have been following them.

They reached a carriage just outside the park, and at last Lavi got a good look at his abductors. One had long blond hair and the other short messy black hair, and both were wearing the strangest clothing he'd ever seen. How they'd followed him unnoticed was beyond him.

"Get in," the shorthaired one said, brandishing his pistol.

Carefully, Lavi got in and laid his son's head in his lap once more. The boy had been too still as they walked, and Lavi realized it was because the boy was _trying_ to stay silent. His son had opened his eye a crack and glanced around the small carriage in fright. "It'll be okay," Lavi whispered, running his fingers through Allie's shoulder-length hair.

"So the brat's awake, hee," the blond-haired man said, grinning.

"Moron! Get the stuff!" The shorthaired man lifted his gun and swung it like he meant to hit his fellow abductor with the butt of his gun.

"Oh, right, hee!" The blond dug in the bag sitting next to him on the plush seat and retrieved a bottle and a cloth. He poured whatever was in the bottle onto the cloth, soaking it in moments. That done, he tried to press the cloth over Lavi's nose and mouth.

Lavi fought back. He could smell whatever chemical was on that cloth, and he knew that it would knock him out in moments if they managed to make him breathe it in. After a few minutes of fighting, the shorthaired gunman held Lavi's arms while the other forced the cloth against his face. He held his breath and tried to fight them away, but he had no means of escape. He couldn't hold his breath any longer. He gasped for air, and the chemical filled his screaming lungs.

Before the darkness completely engulfed him, Lavi tried to protect his son, but within moments, both were unconscious.

* * *

The darkness receded what felt like moments later. Lavi found himself in a strange canopy bed, and Allie was nowhere. Lavi bit his lip to keep silent. Wherever he was, his kidnappers had to be nearby, and he didn't want to alert them that he was awake, should they want to make him breathe in more of that horrid chemical again. But he soon realized the only sound around him was that of running water.

He drew back the curtains surrounding the bed. The room he was being kept in was large with a giant pool surrounding the tile island the bed was on and a small marble bridge connecting that island to the tile surrounding the outside of the pool. On the outside tile there was an odd table that wasn't flat but instead had a surface that tilted to the center.

_Something's not right here._ Lavi climbed out of the huge bed continued expecting the room. But it wasn't the room that was wrong. It was Lavi himself. It took him a few moments to realize that his former clothing had been swapped for a lacy nightgown and that a ribbon had replaced his eye patch.

"So our dear mermaid's woken up."

Lavi spun toward the door, where a tall fat man stood, grinning. Both of Lavi's abductors stood on either side of him, grinning stupidly.

The fat man continued talking, despite Lavi's obvious fear and confusion. "I hope you don't mind the costume change, but a mermaid really ought to dress like a woman, regardless of what form she might take as a human."

"Um... obviously you saw I'm a guy," Lavi replied, still confused. "And what did you do with Allie?"

"Oh, she's safe." The fat man grinned. "For now. But let's not speak of such things. If you cooperate, after all, your sweet little girl will be perfectly safe."

Lavi glared. "What have you done to her?"

"Nothing yet." The fat man ambled over and crossed the little bridge. He took Lavi's chin in his hand and turned it this way and that. "You're quite pretty, even if you choose to be a man in human form."

Lavi smacked away the hand. "For the last time, I'm not a woman. I was born a man and will forever _be_ a man."

"Then how'd you have kids, hee?" the blond gunman asked.

The fat man shot a look in his direction. "Jasdero, don't ask our guest unnecessary questions. She obviously was able to have them because she can choose her gender in human form. She just can't tell us that."

"Get a life," Lavi grumbled. "I'm not a _woman_! I'm a guy; always have been, always will be! Now tell me where my daughter is!"

The fat man sighed and turned to his two flunkies. "David, go bring the girl. It seems our mermaid refuses to cooperate without her."

The two gunmen nodded and left the room. The man in charge, however, turned to Lavi and flashed a big, toothy smile. "I'm known as the Millenium Earl, by the way. Everyone calls me that because I collect all sorts of oddities from all over time."

"So I'm just an oddity to you, then?" Lavi asked. "A 'mermaid' for your collection?"

"But of course," the Earl replied, his grin widening. "After all, mermaids are just objects since they don't have a soul**."1**

Lavi's eyes narrowed. "'Don't have souls'?" he repeated, somehow keeping his voice even. That made the Earl flinch back slightly. "If anyone doesn't have a soul, it's _you_."

"We got the kid!"

Both turned their attention to the door, where Jasdero was roughly dragging Allie by the arm. The poor boy saw his mother and burst into tears.

"Now what should we do with her, hee?"

"Give her to her mother," the Earl said dismissively. He watched as Allie rushed across the room toward his mother, a hundred-watt smile plastered on his face. "Now, Mrs. Mermaid, would you mind telling us the truth?"

Lavi knelt down and hugged his daughter, who clung to him and sobbed in fear. "It's all right, Allie," he murmured. "Everything's all right."

"H-he has a weird thing that stops Haruhi from 'seeing' us," Allie whispered. "It was in the room they put me in with a label on it."

_Even blind sharks find fish,_ Lavi thought ruefully. So they were on their own to guide rescue. Either they'd have to break whatever it was blocking Haruhi's vision—something impossible for Lavi at the moment and difficult at best for little Allie—or they'd have to find their own escape. Neither was looking too possible from where Lavi stood.

"Mrs. Mermaid?"

"For the last time, I'm a guy," Lavi snapped. "We're going home."

Before Lavi could take so much as a step, Jasdero and David whipped out their guns and pointed threateningly at Allie.

"One move and the girl gets it," the Earl said. It was Lavi's turn to flinch. The Earl hadn't seemed threatening before. His dark look and voice vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "We wouldn't want your cute little daughter to get hurt, now would we?"

"You bastard," Lavi growled. He'd never approved of swearing, but at a time like this, the colorful language seemed appropriate. "Yuu will come for us, and when he does, you all will be—"

"Will be what?" The Earl smirked. "Your husband has no idea where you are, and you're little soothsayer of a daughter can't tell where you are. And you don't know where you are either."

So that was it. There was no hope. Lavi knew Kanda would look to the ends of the Earth for him, but if he had no idea where to start... There was no way Kanda could find them before the Earl did whatever he had planned, and their abductors seemed to know that well.

"Mommy," Allie muttered.

Lavi looked down into his son's pale face. The child gave a nod so small and brief, his mother almost missed it, and then coughs racked his frame. Lavi's eyes widened and he clutched the boy closer to him, to keep Allie from collapsing.

"Get a doctor!" Lavi shouted. The three kidnappers just stood there at a loss. "Get a doctor! Hurry! She'll die!"

That got their asses in gear. The Earl rushed out of the room with his two flunkies on his heels. They didn't, however, forget to lock the door before they left in search of medical assistance.

Allie coughed again, this one real, and then started pulling off his dress and petticoats. "There's got to be a channel or something leading to the ocean for all that seawater," he explained before slipping into the water and letting his legs transform into his ivory-colored tail. "I'll go get help."

"Wait!"

Allie paused and turned back to his mother.

"I'll go with you."

But ever-pragmatic Allie shook his head. "The hole will be too small for you. If the Earl is smart enough to kidnap us so that Father can't find us, he'd have thought of you trying to escape. He probably didn't count on me, though."

"Then be careful," Lavi said, trying to keep the worry from his voice. "Go straight to your uncle and aunt. I don't want you alone in the ocean if you don't have to be."

Allie nodded, then dive below the surface. Lavi watched him flit around the large pool, a streak of shimmering scales searching for a way out. A few moments, and he seemed to find one. The small boy tugged on what Lavi assumed to bars blocking off a waterway connecting to the ocean. It took a few tries, but the bars weren't very well made and the cover popped right off. Then Allie squeezed through and was out of sight.

"The doctor is on his way," the Earl said, his false cheerfulness returning as he came back into Lavi's prison. He glanced around the room in search of his other prisoner, but when Allie was nowhere to be found, the Earl's expression became dangerous.

Lavi hid his budding fear with a smirk. "So then," he said nonchalantly, as if the Earl weren't looking like a madman ready to kill, "what's for lunch?"

* * *

Allie swam as fast as his tail could take him, a glittering blur racing through dark water. Nothing in the strange ocean seemed familiar, though he'd had only been under the sea a couple times in his whole life because of nearly constant illness. His heart was thumping hard in his chest. He felt out of breath and sick to his stomach, but he knew he had to hurry. If he didn't... Allie didn't want to think of what would happen.

In his rush, he didn't notice the dark shadow creeping up close behind him as he got into deeper waters.

"Watch out!"

Something barreled into Allie and knocked him out of the way just as sharp teeth closed around the water where he once was. The shark spun toward them and charged again.

The person that had shoved Allie away from the aquatic beast lifted a spear and stabbed mercilessly at the shark, which was enough to deter the less than determined creature. The anti-climactic situation over, the person—a Shimmer older than Allie—grinned down at the smaller merman.

"You all right?"

Allie pushed away from the other and nodded meekly.

"You really should be more careful. Don't you know you're not supposed to swim around when injured?"

Now that the other had mentioned it and his race against time had been momentarily interrupted, Allie _did_ feel a painful burning on his tail and arms where he'd scraped against the stone shaft. By now, though, he was used to his second-rate healing ability and promptly ignored them.

Then he realized he was with another merperson who might know where they were. Taking advantage of the situation, Allie asked, "Um, do you know where the castle is?"

The other Shimmer seemed a little surprised. "You're heading in the completely wrong direction, then."

"Oh." Color rose to Allie's cheeks. He felt really stupid now.

"I could take you there, if you want," the Shimmer continued, choosing not to notice Allie's embarrassment.

Allie's eyes lit up. "Thank you so much." He bowed as best he could while underwater.

"But we ought to wait for your wounds to heal."

"That'll take hours, and there's no time for that," Allie said, trying his best to keep his voice even despite the welling panic. "Please, take me there now!"

The Shimmer frowned. "Hours? But..." he stopped when he saw that what Allie said was, in fact, true. The wounds weren't healing, nor showing any sign of healing. He sighed and ran his fingers through his short hair. "All right, all right, but hold on to me. No one's faster than me in any of the seven seas."

Allie did as the other Shimmer asked and wrapped his arms around the merman's neck. And with that, they shot off like a rocket.

It only took a few minutes at this pace to reach the underwater city at that pace. There were a few odd looks from passerby as the Shimmers continued to zip through the water, but the other Shimmer ignored them, so Allie did too.

Soon they reached the castle. Much to Allie's surprise, the guards didn't stop the two of them; instead, they just got the same odd looks as in the city surrounding them. The servants within the castle also gave them odd looks but didn't say a word. Something was weird about the whole thing. When they reached the throne room without any trouble, Allie figured out why.

He'd only ever met his cousins a few times, but he'd only seen them in their fins twice. The Shimmer pulling him along must be one of those cousins. He did seem a little familiar, and it was understandable that he couldn't remember them all considering he had at least twenty last count. He hadn't realized any of his cousins were like himself, a Shimmer.

"Father!" the Shimmer called when they swam into the empty throne room. "There's a Shimmer who wants to... to..." He turned to his cousin. "What is it that you want here, exactly?"

So his cousin hadn't realized they were related yet. "I need to speak with Uncle Allen," Allie replied. He was starting to feel a little dizzy and forced had to force his vision to keep steady. It was probably the pain from his injuries as well as the panic catching up to him.

The Shimmer gaped at Allie. "_Uncle_?" he repeated dumbly. "Why didn't you say so before!" He shook his head and swam off down a hall Allie assumed to lead to Allen's chambers. He returned a few minutes later with Allen in the lead.

"What's happened?" Allen demanded, taking in Allie's injuries and pale face all at once. "Why are you here by yourself?"

"Mommy was kidnapped," Allie tried to say, but he wasn't sure if the sounds had come out right. He was really dizzy all of a sudden and felt faint. His perpetual illness was catching up with him again.

Allen frowned. "Where is he, Allie?"

"I dunno..." Darkness was pressing in on Allie. He was going to faint again. He just knew it.

"Joshua, where did you find your cousin?" Allen asked.

"About five miles from here, near the land border," the Shimmer replied.

Allen cursed quietly and returned his attentions to Allie. "You're staying here the night," he said firmly. "If you feel better in the morning, I'll take you back to you father and tell him what's happened."

Allie tried to nod, but he was too numb to move right. Warm arms encircled him, and that was all he remembered.

* * *

**1** **In the original "Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Anderson, the mermaid didn't have a soul, which is why she became one of those winged beings who circle the earth.**

_GO ALLIE MY HERO!!_

**Well, that's the end of the chapter. I took some liberties with it, as Shim and I are on opposite sides of the country, but it's all Shim approved.

* * *

**

**Omake II: Life Sucks**

"What's this?" Lavi demanded.

The Earl smiled innocently. "Clothes. We can't expect you to stay in a nightgown all day."

"But why a dress?"

"Because you're a mermaid."

"I've told you once, I'll tell you a thousand times, I'm a _guy_." Lavi threw the dress the Earl had given him on the tile floor. "Where are my old clothes?"

The Earl made a face. "But you'd look so much better in a dress, Mrs. Mermaid."

Lavi shot a cold look the Earl's way. "And my eye patch?" He'd discovered soon after Allie left that the rich collector had replaced his old eye patch with a large ribbon.

"We burned that. There was just _so_ much seawater in it that no one could wash all the salt out." The Earl's smile grew. "Would you like a different dress than the one I've given you?"

Lavi sighed and picked up the fancy dress. "No. Now go away."


End file.
